To What Extent Is There Tension Between Liberalism And The Principle Of Equality?

979 words - 4 pages

To what extent is there tension between liberalism and the principle of equality?

Liberalism is the orthodox challenging position that believes in power to the people giving reference to the term ‘Free men’ where liberalism was the product of the breakdown of feudalism in Europe replaced with a growth of a ‘Market’ and a capitalist society. Royalty was at the time supposedly chosen by god ‘Absolutism’ but people began to question the power of the king (Glorious and French revolutions). The central theme of the liberal ideology is a commitment to the individual and a society that entices the desire of individuals to fulfil their potential enjoying maximum possible freedom within a like ...view middle of the document...

This is not suggesting we should have the same ‘equality of outcome’- getting the same out of society but we should all have equal chance to gain what we are ‘due’.

Different people uphold mixed talents and abilities and some are more wiling to have a greater work ethic than others yet it is dependant greatly on the fact of putting this ability into practice and gaining our reward or merit that we deserve. This generates the implication that all individuals should be able to develop their unequal skills. This discovers the belief in a meritocratic society or ‘meritocracy’ this reflects a society that social position is determined by ability and effort, yet there is a unequal distribution of talent along with application, this can be caused due to affluence and natural social position. This is viewed as just as individuals are not judged by gender or race but by their skills and incentives to work.

Tension can be caused in the liberal ideology. There is a distinctive line that is drawn between the modern lib’s and classical lib’s. They both feel that the three types of equality spoken before equate to social equality. However Classicals support a pure meritocratic society in which it is down to us whether we succeed or fail; we either ‘sink or swim’. They do not show sympathy to those whose talents are flawed. They feel there should be a ‘minimal state’ where there is no government influence. We have to be self-reliant if not than ‘the drunk in the gutter is where he belongs’ only ‘heaven helps those who help themselves’. Herbert Spencer drew upon ideas of Charles Darwin he applied his ideas into society; the process of ‘natural selection’ decides which individuals are a part of ‘the survival of the fittest’. Ones who survive rise to the top while less fit fall to bottom, inequalities of wealth etc are natural, government shouldn’t interfere with this.

Other assignments on To What Extent Is There Tension Between Liberalism And The Principle Of Equality?

1319 words - 6 pages
To what extent did the creation of the Empire in 1804 mark a significant change in Napoleon’s rule of France?
The empire was created in 1804 where Napoleon was crowned the hereditary emperor of France by the Pope. His empire consisted of the pays réunis; land ruled by France and the pays conquis, which were satellite states ruled by the French that bordered France and gave them protection and safety from invasion. Despite becoming emperor in

1375 words - 6 pages
cause of concern for Nick. “Tom’s got some women in New York”, not only does Nick feel like he should ‘phone the police’ but thinks the thing for Daisy to do would be “rush out of the house child in arms”. This presentation of Tom within the first chapter is unpleasant and any reader could share Nicks dislike of Tom.
The relationship between Daisy and Tom is a very functional one, without any obvious love. Both Tom and Daisy know that Tom is

796 words - 4 pages
To what extent do you agree with the view that the Commonwealth failed because of its lack of reforms? (30 marks)
The Commonwealth lasted from the 1649-1653 and was made up of the Rump and the Nominated Assembly. At the time there were many issues that needed reform such as religious, legal, electoral, taxation and the constitution. It is fair to say that the Commonwealth did fail because of their lack of reforms to some extent; however this

1410 words - 6 pages
Racial Equality and the Abolition of Slavery in France
When Abbé Sièyes wondered, "What is the Third Estate [or are slaves]? Nothing. What has it [have they] been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it [do they] want? To be become something…" (65), he could have just as easily spoken of slave's misery rather than the Third Estate's plight. While, his scope was limited, his pains were not. Following their first revolution

539 words - 3 pages
architecture. Fred doesn’t understand either one but thinks the Web-based one should be better because, in his words, “The Web is the future.”
a. Brieﬂy explain to Fred, in layperson’s terms, the differences between the two.
b. Outline the pros and cons of the two alternatives and make a recommendation to Fred about which
is better.
Part A - Assignment Deliverables:
Client-server architectures
attempt to balance the processing between the client

751 words - 4 pages
To What Extent Are Caucuses an Appropriate Means of Selecting Candidates
Although most states hold primaries, caucuses are another way political parties nominate candidates for election. Caucuses are a series of meetings held across a state. At these meetings, party members discuss the candidates, and then openly vote for state delegates who represent the candidate they support. Those state delegates, in turn, choose delegates to attend the

1353 words - 6 pages
‘Is there a democratic deficit at the heart of the EU?’
Plan:
Intro:
-What is a democratic deficit?
The European Union (EU) is a unique economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council

513 words - 3 pages
What is the definition of business communication? Business Communication: communication used to promote a product, service, or organization. Business communication is nothing but, the communication between the people in the organization for the purpose of carrying out the business activities. It may be oral, verbal, written. Why Is Communication Important in a Business? Good communication matters because business organizations are made up of

490 words - 2 pages
To what extent do Pressure Groups promote pluralist democracy?
A Pressure Group is an organised group that does not put up candidates for election, but seeks to influence government policy or legislation. The aim of all PGs is to influence the people who actually have the power to make decisions. There are many different types of PGs such as, Sectional which usually represent limited, specific interests. They usually aim to improve conditions

1855 words - 8 pages
What is the role of institutions according to North? How far does this theory go towards explaining the contours of world development in the pre-modern growth era?
Maddison (2006) stated that he “would characterise the whole period 1000-1820 as ‘protocapitalist’”. He believes the transition from pre-modern to modern economic growth took place at around 1820. This will set the stage for this discussion. Within that period, there were two groups

827 words - 4 pages
To what extent does executive pay influence company performance?
Whether there is a relationship between the level of executive pay and company performance is a topic of great interest. The forms of executive pay can be both equity-based compensation which is based on the price of company’s stocks, like stocks and options, and non-equity-based compensation, such as cash compensation- including salary and bonus (Bebchuk & Fried, 2006 ). A

Similar Documents

698 words - 3 pages
To what extent has modern liberalism departed from the ideas of classical liberalism?
The further development of industrialisation led to social and economic inequality. This led to a revision of classical liberal ideas to prevent the spread of ignorance and poverty. It is suggested that modern liberals have betrayed classical liberal ideas as they embrace collectivism and diverge from classical liberalism on issues such as freedom. However

3644 words - 15 pages
individualism, competition and private space, ideas totally at the opposite of the Chinese traditional culture which advocates the social harmony in community and society.
In my essay, I will try to answer to this question:
To what extent the role of the People's mediation committees in China now is still significant when some cities tend to modernize and others tend to conserve traditionalism?
First, I will present the evolution of the

1103 words - 5 pages
responsible for the failure of their societies to develop. Instead, Andre Gunder Frank, the leading dependency theorist, suggests that lack of development is because Western nations have deliberately under-developed them.
Frank argues that there exists a global system of capitalism in which core nations such as the USA and UK exploit what Frank calls the peripheral nations or LDCs. The periphery is kept in a state of dependency and under

7994 words - 32 pages
Journal of International Accounting,
Auditing & Taxation 10 (2001) 139 –156
A study of the relationship between corporate governance
structures and the extent of voluntary disclosure
Simon S.M. Ho*, Kar Shun Wong
School of Accountancy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong
Abstract
The primary objective of this study is to test a theoretical framework relating four major corporate
governance attributes with the